The New Age of the Benders
by izzyibit29
Summary: This happens around 1000 years after the adventure of Avatar Aang. The world is once again in chaos and the balance is broken, it's up to the new avatar to fix the balance and to restart a cycle that has been lost. She will need to do this even though almost no one can teach her how to master the 4 elements and everyone has forgotten about the Avatar.
1. Prologue

**The Story is rated T JUST IN CASE, since this is my first fanfiction i don't want there to be any problem. By the way I don't own Avatar Aang/Kora. Hope you enjoy.**

**Prologue: **

This adventure takes place in a time where humans had forgotten all there was to know of the spirit world. This included bending. No more were humans able to command fire with their emotions, or water with their inner peace. Air benders were lost to the legends and benders of the earth to fairy tales. The spirits were angry, their homes were destroyed and they were forgotten. The lush greenery that used to surround villages had disappeared to be instead replaced by the greyness of pavements. Water had turned brown and forests had disappeared without a trace. The air was thick with fumes and the sky no longer blue, but covered with constant brown blankets that the wind had no control over.

Without the balance, it was a simple matter for evil to escape the cages where It had been locked up, it was easy for It to use the weakened minds of the angered and forgotten spirits and twist it to the point that blood was all they thought about.

The few spirits which were still sane were aware that the Avatar, master of all four elements was the only one that would be able to stop this imbalance and make everything better. But the cycle of rebirth had been broken and the Avatar was lost. No one knew who the container of the spirit was and neither to which people he or she belonged. Not that it mattered; it had been a long time since the four separate nations had ceased to exist; now they were only one people.

It was around 1000 years after Avatar Aang that the separation between the Spirit World and the human world weakened, and all hell broke loose on earth. In the past, weak and disinterested spirits were not or did not travel to the human realm but now with the evil in their minds they all arrived to Earth destroying homes and killing any human they could lay their fangs or claws on. The spirits were only able to do this because It was helping them. It had taken advantage of the Winter solstice, the day when the human and spirit realm were closest.

12 years after the initial attack, the size of the human population had halved and they did not dare be out at night, for that is when the spirits and the evil were strongest. Most of the population lived in huge ancient cities (such as Republic City or Ba Sing Se) that, for some unknown reason, were able to defend themselves against the spirits. The sane spirits, which were very few in numbers, tried desperately to find the Avatar, but much to their regret they were not able to.


	2. Chapter 1 Entrance

**This is the first chapter so don't expect a lot of stuff to happen. This is mostly to introduce the 2 main characters as well as to show the setting. If you want to review, go ahead but it's not essential. **

The sun was high in the noon sky, drying the puddles left behind by the rain of the previous night. Even though it rained frequently in the area, the land was yellow and dry; the trees had long lost their leaves to the unnatural drought. Nothing had grown in the area for a long time. In the middle of the rocks, lay a path which was barely visible on the dead soil. This ancient path led to a huge city called Omashu, which already existed during the era of the benders, but this the people had forgotten. Strangely enough, it was one of the only places in the world that spirits seemed unable to attack and destroy.

Locations like this were rare but not unheard of, the people living in these cities wondered why they were protected but they would never be able to break this mystery. The reason is obvious for those of us that are aware of the world's history. These cities had existed for a long time; so long in fact that some of the most powerful figures had died in these great cities. The spirit of the deceased had merged with the infrastructure, protecting it from magical harm.

Omashu was currently ten times the size it had been during Avatar Aangs time, this is true even though half of the world's population had been eradicated. Although the surface area and size of the population had vastly increased, the level of life had deteriorated. Crime was common and poverty was ripe. It was already a terrible place to live in even before thousands of refugees started to make their lives there. Nowadays, epidemics were a constant presence, hundreds died because they were not able to fight against the diseases. Hunger was in everybody's stomach and murder was common. Yet people never left the city, anywhere else and they would be attacked by the spirits. It was better to risk death than face certain death on the outside world.

On the path leading to the rotten city was a slow moving figure. From a distance it appeared to be a very large horse, but closer up it was more similar to a bird. It was in fact both. They were a species that most people thought extinct; it was called an Eagle Horse (_**known to us as a hippogriff**_). The front half of its body, (where the head, torso and the front paws are) was the body of an eagle. The plumage was a dark, almost crimson red with flashes of gold, and the eyes were a deep brown that showed intelligence and bravery. The beak was sharp and curved like that of an eagle; it was a powerful weapon that was capable of dissecting meat more efficiently than teeth. It also had huge wings, capable of holding its weight as well as that of 3 adult riders. The wings were also crimson red, but underneath they were a lighter shade, going on to almost orange. The white claws found at the front were as sharp and as long as daggers, if anything, sharper. The back of the creature's body was that of a horse, the fur was venetian red and the tail the same brown as its eyes. The hoofs found on the back legs were powerful, and if they did not kill somebody that they hit, it would take a long time for someone to recover from the hit. At a certain angle, the beast would sometimes seem as though it was on fire. The muscles of the beast were powerful, when the creature was on a rampage it was a force to reckon with. In fact, it was nearly impossible to domesticate the species since they thought themselves superior to humans. An Eagle Horse did not belong to a human; the human belonged to the eagle horse. During the age of the benders, it would have been considered an amazing feet to survive a meeting with one of the Eagle Horses. The only reason they were so rare these days was that many of the choals (chick foal) had been killed by people terrified of the creatures. In the old days it had been considered a sport.

On the back of the Eagle Horse (who was named Tarak) was a saddle; on the saddle were two people. On the front there was a young boy, who was around ten years old. He had dark brown hair, almost black, a pale skin colour and golden brown eyes that seemed to transmit fear, tiredness and desperation. He was wearing clothes that were too big for him, the orange t-shirt's sleeves went below his elbow, and the bottom of the t-shirt went up to his knees. The trousers he had were black and the bottom was rolled at least five times to reach the top of his foot. Both the clothes were filthy and were ripped in various places.

The person behind the boy was obviously his older sister. They were almost identical, with the same hair and eye colour. The shape of their faces were similar and their noses were both straight. The only difference was that the girl had lost all her baby fat and she was taller. Her figure was more feminine and she was obviously older. She must have been around sixteen years of age. She wore a white t-shirt that was slightly loose, brown trousers that flapped around; she also had a green-brown sleeveless vest. These as well looked as though they had been worn for days, they were better than rags, but not by much. On her head she wore a red bandanna, and her eyes showed the same emotion as that of her brother's but they also held a strength and maturity that he lacked.

The boy's name was Yeonso and he had never known what it was like to feel safe without his eldest sister whom was more like a mother to him than a sibling. The girl was walled Jae and she had had the responsibility of her younger sibling since her parents death when she was eight years old. She had long abandoned the idea that someone would take care of her and her brother, she was aware that what people had they would not be willing to share. Although both the siblings would rather not have to live in a city with the bad reputation of Omashu, they were aware that if they wanted to live in a place where they could sleep without the constant threat of being cut in half by the spirits, they would have to take the chance of living in Omashu.

When the small party finally reached the gates of city they were stopped by city guards. They were actually thugs that were only allowing people who would give them something in return for letting them inside the city. Often this was food or maybe even life stock. When they had seen the shadowy figure going towards the gate they had been more easy prey. What they hadn't expected to see was a birdlike creature that was at least twice the height of a human being, carrying two people on its back. They then relaxed when they noticed that they were in fact just children.

"This ought to be easy" One of the three guards had told the others.

"Yeah, they jus' kids" another replied.

"What can we do for you?" The last guard asked. He was obviously the leader of the thugs and the spokesman of the group.

Jae replied impatiently

"We want to live in the city"

"Hey there, no need to get angry law we jus' wan'ed to know. Anyway afraid to tell ya that the city is full at the moment so you migh' want to come back la'er. Unless of course ya got somethin' that'll let us make more space"

With a look of disgust Jae answered "And what would such…fine men want?"

"It depends on what ya got" The leader replied.

"Nothing."

"How 'bout the giant chicken ya on?"

Jae laughed, something that surprised the guards as well as Yeonso. "Sure I'll give Tarak to you if you want to be killed"

"And wha' do ya mean by that I wonder?" the leader tried to ask in a light tone, but suspicion was thick in the voice.

"Nothing really, but Tarak doesn't like strangers and he has a tendency to peck people he doesn't like; usually that group involves people that have a wish to harm him"

"So ya sayin' that the creature here would kill us?" It was the guards turn to laugh, but he stopped suddenly when he noticed the glint of amusement in the girl's eyes.

"Yes, have you seen the claws, the hoofs, the beak and the size? Tarak is at least three times taller than you and has more brain than the three of you put together, so you really think that you could kill him?"

It was then that Tarak, bored of the discussion, decided to rear back on to his back legs. It was an impressive sight. His wings were spread wide and his talons were clawing the wind. His yellow beak was opened releasing a terrifying shriek.

All three guards took a couple of hurried steps back, and the leader shouted

"Keep tha' thingy calm or I ain't lettin' ya through!"

After staying in that position for a couple more seconds, the Eagle Horse finally landed on his four legs and snorted at the cowards.

"How about I give you nine apples and three Rabaroos **(Rabbit Kangaroos-actual animal from the world of Avatar)**? That's a lot of food."

"Ya expect us to let ya through with that meager bunch of dippings? We got people that give us all they got to go to the great city of Omashu!"

"Ok fine, how about three apples, three Rabaroos and 4 carrots?"

"Ain't tha' much better"

"Three apples, three Rabaroos, four carrots and I owe you a favor!"

"Pshh…hell no, ya ain't ever gonna keep your word'

"Three apples, nine Rabaroo, four carrots, one favor and I don't have Tarak eat you."

The guard hesitated but looked into the creature's eyes and squealed.

"Fine, I'll take it but only if ya also give us two shirts and a pair of pants, extra large if ya please."

"Sure, but they probably won't fit you"

The boy dug in the packs that the pair had and took out the objects needed for the trading.

"Pleasure doin' business with ya missy, please drop by again" The leader said whilst the gates leading to the inside of the city opened. "Oh, and missy, ya might wanna be careful with the birdy, not everyone's as understanding as me as to why the birdy ain't food".

**BTW if it wasn't clear, all those mistakes when the guard speaks are done on purpose to make an accent, I know how to spell (most of the time). The avatar only discovers his/her abilities later, by chapter 5 but action will take place before hand. Also, I do know who the avatar is but I'm trying to make you guess (it's pretty obvious though). Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 2 Home

As the gate slowly opened, a small dust cloud formed temporarily, blinding the siblings. They closed their eyes and covered their face with their hands. When they finally dared open their eyes the gate of Omashu was fully open allowing the two to see the infamous protected city. On the other side, what seemed to be a market was taking place. Hundreds of people were crowded in the area, all of them seeming to shout at the same time. Jae listened to the noise and was surprised that that amount of noise hadn't been heard on the other side of the wall. Yeonso thought nothing of the noise but was more worried about the glances that people were giving them. Shock was one of the emotions that he saw when people stared, hunger was another, and the most worrying was greed.

Jae told Tarak to move forward by pressing both her legs on his sides. The Eaglehorse moved his head down and up as though he was nodding and took confident steps forward. An eerie silence was starting to grow and it looked like the entire population of Omashu was staring intensely at the three new arrivals. Yeonso, feeling uncomfortable, tried to shrink from the stares; his sister on the other hand simply looked ahead as though she couldn't care less that a huge amount of people concentrated on memorising their faces.

Never before had these people seen a creature like an Eaglehorse. Most did not know what he was, the few that were aware of what kind of creature Tarak was were stunned to find that his species wasn't completely extinct. Most of the people present who were past the initial shock were already starting to plan how they were going to steal Tarak and kill the children on its back. They were either going to kill and eat him or they were going to sell him to the highest bidder which was going to kill and eat him. As people were planning their thievery, the silence started to die and was replaced by voices filled with blood lust.

"Sis I think that…"

"I know, Tarak will need to get out of here after we've found a place to hide in"

The Eaglehorse, ignorant of the fact that he was going to have to be separated from his humans in a short while, was rather excited by the new place. Never before had he smelt so many different things, and heard so many noises. He ruffled his feathers and his tail twitched, his brown eyes looking at everything and everyone. Already, Tarak had noticed they were being followed by several different people, and he snorted at their lack of talent for hiding their presence.

Jae moved so that her head was next to her long time friend's and asked

"Are we already being followed?"

In response to the question the Eaglehorse snorted and simply kept on moving forward.

"We're so dead"

"Thanks Yoyo for that very optimistic view" Jae's voice said filled with sarcasm

"Oh please you know as well as I that we're probably being followed by half of this rotten city who are all ready to gut us"

"Pessimism won't get us anywhere"

Yeonso simply rolled his eyes in response to his sister. By then, the siblings knew what they were going to do; first of all they were going to find a location where they weren't as easily visible to the stalkers. Then the siblings would get off the Eaglehorse leaving him to act as bait to the thieves. After he had leaded them away from the location of the children, Tarak would fly from Omashu to an area where they had left a little food for him. He would then fly back to Omashu under the cover of darkness a couple of days later after the siblings found a place where to live. The children weren't worried that Tarak would get lost since he was always able to find them. What they were more worried about was that he'd decide to come back during the day when people were still outdoors.

The plan was put to work and luckily every thief was too busy dreaming about eating the Eaglehorse to realise that it didn't have any passengers on anymore. All but one left at the sight of the creature galloping away.

"Well that takes care of that"

"Hopefully"

"Again with the pessimism?"

"I don't have a lot to be optimistic about to be honest."

"I know Yoyo, but on the bright side we're finally safe" Jae said this without looking at her younger sibling. Instead she stared at the derelict building surrounding the two. They had hidden in a sombre place where people didn't live. The infrastructure of the buildings was crumbling and the taller buildings threatened to fall. Ancient metal objects had been abandoned, allowing time to rust them and give them a look of despair. The pavement was cracked and in some area crevices had formed, deep enough for a person to stay trapped in. Although mud and dirt had infiltrated the area, seeds refused to grow leaving the region dark and dead.

"Come on, let's get out of here and find a place we can call home."

"I hope Tarak will be fine"

Jae simply nodded at her brother and walked ahead. Yeonso stared at her for a while before following.

Several hours passed, the sun had set and yet the siblings still hadn't found a place where they could sleep safely for the night. Though Omashu was safe, people were worried some demons would be able to penetrate this strange barrier. Foolishly, humans thought that hiding inside their homes would protect them from any spirit invasion. The siblings on the other hand weren't trying to find shelter from the spirits, but rather from the humans that wouldn't think twice about killing them.

It was then that Yeonso heard a noise which sounded suspiciously like footsteps.

"Sis!"

"Hmmm…?"

"Someone's following us"

"Are you sure?" Panic could be heard in Jae's voice.

Yeonso nodded slowly, his eyes wide with fear yet his voice was quiet and confident, trying to keep the stalker from being suspicious.

"I definitely heard footsteps"

"Shitshitshitshit. See that corner?"

Yeonso nodded again but this time it was smaller and quicker, barely noticeable.

"When we reach the corner we are going to turn and walk five steps and then sprint, do you understand?"

Another quick little nod was her answer. Jae then took her little brother's hand and started running once they reached the corner. They didn't stop and they only looked back when a voice said

"No, wait, STOP"

Obviously they didn't stop knowing full well that only idiots stopped when someone they didn't know asked them to stop.

They ran for a good while before they finally came to a halt. Jae was confident that they had lost their pursuer, while Yeonso was bent over gasping for air like a fish on land.

"Yoyo (_Yeonso's nickname_), we can only rest a few moment then we need to move"

The boy's answer was a gasp for air. Jae looked at her brother with pity, having forgotten that her brother was only ten years old thus not being as physically strong as she was.

Their short rest was interrupted by a gasping voice saying

"Don't run, I'm not here to hurt you. Please. Believe me… I just want to talk"

The person talking was hidden by the shadows but it was clear from the tone of the voice that a) the speaker was male and b) he was young, probably the same age as Jae if not slightly older than her.

"You have a funny way of showing that you mean no harm by following us the way you did." Jae answered coldly.

"Right, sorry 'bout that" The voice said

"So what do, _pant _do you_ pant_ want?" It was Yeonso that asked the question this time.

"Just wanna talk"

The siblings stared at the figure full of mistrust for a couple of seconds before Jae asked what he wanted to talk about.

"I was wondering if you wanted to stay with me and my family for then night since I'm aware that you have nowhere else to sleep"

Jae frowned and answered

"Yeah, a good night's sleep from which we'll never wake up. Sorry to disappoint but we're not idiots who are going to trust the first person we meet. Also, for your information, we have nothing of value except maybe for our ride but as you'll have noticed he's not here anymore"

"Look" the voice started angrily "I couldn't care less about the bird thingy you came on but I don't want to see a person my age or a kid die gutted like a pig by one of the scum living in this rotten city! Also, I think that only an idiot would refuse help from someone who was going to allow them to rest in their home"

Jae's mouth clenched and her hands rolled into fists but before she could retort to the insult her little brother fainted from fatigue and hunger. Jae and the figure hiding in the shadows reacted instantly by both kneeling next to the fallen figure. Worry and terror were etched on the girl's face and her eyes lost the confident and cold glint they had, to be replaced by confusion and despair.

"We can go to my house where you can take care of him better, and he can have warm food"

This time Jae was too worried and didn't answer but simply put the boy on her back and nodded. Both teenagers then started a slow jog, the boy in front of his guest guiding both of them. The small group travelled quickly and quietly, going through what seemed to be a maze of old and soulless houses. When Jae wasn't panicking over her little brother riding her back, she was certain that the boy in front had gotten all of them lost since it seemed impossible anyone could find their way in such a city. Much to her surprise the boy stopped not in front of a house like she expected but at the entrance of a sewer.

"You can't be serious?"

"Don't worry my house isn't there, this is just one of the paths"

Jae didn't answer; she simply looked at the now opened entrance in disgust. The boy smirked and told her to get a move on. They entered through the sewer quickly, neither wanting to stay in the area longer than necessary. When the tunnel split into two, the boy showed Jae a ladder which they had to climb.

"Once you go up the second house on your left is ours, it's pretty recognisable since it has a hole on top"

"What about you?"

"I need to get food"

"I have food"

"I know but it's yours"

"If you really are going to take care of him and me tonight I owe you"

"Fair point, let's go then"

Once again the boy led the way and he opened the door with a big cry, shouting:

"I'M HOME!" He then said to Jae "Put you brother on my bed, it's the green rags in the room on the right.

The girl simply nodded thanks, and hurried to put her brother on the so-called bed. Once she was sure that her brother was fine, she studied the room they were in. It was small, that was the first thing she noticed. The second thing she noticed was that there were two other raggedly made beds. They weren't as comfortable as real beds but much better than sleeping on the floor, they would be warmer and softer than the ground. She also saw that the room was made up of wood that was old but not yet rotten. She then went out of the bedroom and entered the first room. It was slightly bigger but not by much. The state of the walls and the floor was the same as in the other room, the wood was old but not rotten. In the middle of the room was a table and three stools. Clearly, it was meant to be a dining room. On a side wall there was what seemed to be a chimney which had a large pot inside but no fire had been started. Next to the door leading to the bedroom stood another door, obviously closed this time.

Once Jae had finished studying the room she realised that she wasn't alone. There wasn't only the boy that had led her here but also two other children that were hiding behind the legs of the first boy. He was taller than Jae but just as thin. He had dark brown hair that fell messily over his browny-green eyes which seemed kind and intelligent. He was relatively tanned but that was hidden by his brown shirt which had holes by the cuffs. His trousers were of a similar colour but they had holes on the right knee. His sandals were black and clearly worn.

"Hey, so how is he?"

"He'll be fine, he's just tired"

"So I guess I'll introduce us, my name's Ayumu and the little monsters behind me are Jord and Monserrat. They're my family."

The two kids were clearly twins. Both had the same light brown hair and the same chocolate brown eyes that were deeply suspicious and weary. They were less tanned than Ayumu but more so than Jae and the shape of their jaw and nose was identical. Their eyelashes were long and their height was the same. The only reason she could tell one of them was female was that Monserrat had long hair, past her shoulders and the fact that her eyebrows were softer. Clearly they were a year or two older than her younger brother and they saw Ayumu as the responsible one that they idolised.

"So you are?" The eldest boy asked

"Right, my name is Jae and obviously the boy in the other room is my little brother. He's called Yeonso. We just arrived today but I guess you knew that."

Awkward silence followed her description while they all studied each other. Ayumu then coughed and asked if they wanted to have dinner. Jae understood the message and opened her bag. Judging by the fact that they were five she prepared three squirrels and eight carrots. The twins stared for a while before getting water. A fire in the chimney had started thanks to Ayumu. When the dinner was prepared and five bowls and spoons were on the table Yeonso conveniently woke up.

TLtTHE


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